1. Final responsibility and ultimate authority
for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our
whole Fellowship.

2. The General Service Conference of A.A. has
become, for nearly every practical purpose, the active voice and the effective
conscience of our whole Society in its world affairs.

3. To insure effective leadership, we should
endow each element of A.A. - the Conference, the General Service Board and its
service corporations, staffs, committees, and executives-with a traditional
"Right of Decision."

4. At all responsible levels, we ought to
maintain a traditional "Right of Participation," allowing a voting
representation in reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must
discharge.

5. Throughout our structure, a traditional
"Right of Appeal" ought to prevail, so that minority opinion will be
heard and personal grievances receive careful consideration.

6. The Conference recognizes that the chief
initiative and active responsibility in most world service matters should be
exercised by the trustee members of the Conference acting as the General Service
Board.

7. The Charter and Bylaws of the General Service
Board are legal instruments, empowering the trustees to manage and conduct world
service affairs. The Conference Charter is not a legal document; it relies
upon tradition and the A.A. purse for final effectiveness.

8. The trustees are the principal planners and
administrators of overall policy and finance. They have custodial
oversight of the separately incorporated and constantly active services,
exercising this through their ability to elect all the directors of these
entities.

9. Good service leadership at all levels is
indispensable for our future functioning and safety. Primary world service
leadership, once exercised by the founders, must necessarily be assumed by the
trustees.

10. Every service responsibility should be
matched by an equal service authority, with the scope of such authority well
defined.

11. The trustees should always have the best
possible committees, corporate service directors, executives, staffs, and
consultants. Composition, qualifications, induction procedures, and rights
and duties will always be matters of serious concern.

12. The Conference shall observe the spirit of
A.A. traditions, taking care that it never becomes the seat of perilous wealth
or power; that sufficient operating funds and reserve be its prudent financial
principle; that it place none of its members in a position of unqualified
authority over others; that it reach all important decisions by discussion,
vote, and, whenever possible, by substantial unanimity; that its actions never
be personally punitive nor an incitement to public controversy; that it never
perform acts of government, and that, like the Society it serves, it will always
remain democratic in thought and action.